“Rio?”

                I could feel someone shaking me and let out a grunt, pulling my pillow over my head. I felt my pillow being yanked away from me yet again and forced my eyes open, fixing a glare on my mom.

                “Are we going to make a habit out of stealing my pillow away from me while waking me up?” I asked.

                “I’m sorry,” she said, looking honestly apologetic. “Your father and I both have business meetings. I’ll be home around two. But until then…can you please keep an eye on Hank? He’s already awake.”

                “Sure,” I said, kicking my covers off and forcing myself out of bed.

                “Thank you so much Rio,” mom said gratefully.

                “Yea, no problem,” I said, stretching.

                I followed her out to the living room, where Hank was sitting on the couch watching TV. Mom offered him a smile.

                “Hank, you and Rio can hang out together today,” she said brightly.

                “I don’t want to,” he said without looking over at me.

                “Sucks to suck. You’re stuck with me,” I said.

                He glared at me. “You’re obnoxious. I don’t want to spend the day with you.”

                “Yes, because you’re so charming,” I said, dropping into a chair near him.

                “Stop it you two. You’re spending the day together,” mom said sternly.

                Hank shot me another glare, but I knew that it wasn’t exactly directed at me. It was directed at the fact that no one trusted him. That he had to constantly have someone watching him. That his life had turned into this.

                “Now, both of you behave. I love you both and I’ll be home around two,” she said before grabbing her bag and leaving the house.

                Hank turned his attention back to the TV, but I could tell by his glazed over expression that he wasn’t even paying attention. He spent a lot of time on the couch, blankly staring at the TV. Sometimes I wondered what he thought about when he had that empty expression.

                After a few hours of watching TV in silence, both of our stomachs were growling like crazy. I leaned back in the chair, placing my hand over my stomach.

                “Hank, I’m starving,” I said.

                “Obviously,” he grumbled. “I don’t want to be in the house anymore. Let’s go out and get lunch.”

                “Okay,” I said, jumping up.

                Hank stood up and turned off the TV. We got dressed and went out to the car together. I drove towards Hank’s favorite food place.

                I pulled into the parking lot and the two of us got out of the car together, heading inside. We were seated and gave our orders. Once the waitress took away our menus, I realized that I had nothing to distract myself with.

                “So what else do you want to do today?” I asked him.

                Hank shrugged. “I’m only stuck with you until two.”

                “Yea, whatever,” I said, turning to stare out of the window.

                Our food came and we started eating. Hank didn’t have much of an appetite, so he ate barely half of his food.

                I reached over, picking at his meal. He watched me with an annoyed expression, but didn’t say anything about it.

                My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket. I was surprised to see that I had a new text from Mitch, since the kid barely ever used his phone.

                From: Mitch

                Come over tonight.

                “What a heartfelt message,” I said, rolling my eyes.

                “What?” Hank asked, looking over at me.

                “Nothing,” I said dismissively. “I’m just talking to myself because I’m crazy. I’m going over to Mitch’s tonight if you want to come.”

                “No,” he said.

                “Whatever,” I said with a shrug, replying to Mitch.

                I paid our food bill and we got up, leaving and climbing back into the car. I drove us home and we returned to the living room, the TV going on and the blank look returning to Hank’s expression.

                I curled up in the chair, wishing I could take a nap but knowing that if I did, Hank would probably steal my wallet again and sneak out. I pulled out my phone, deciding to waste my life playing Fall Out Bird and scrolling through Twitter.

                Just when I felt like I was going to honestly die of boredom, I heard the front door open. I looked up as my mom came into the room.

                “Have you two been watching TV all day?” she asked.

                “No. We went out to get lunch,” I said.

                “Oh, well that sounds nice,” she said happily.

                “Oh yea, it was a joy,” I said, crawling out of the chair. “I’m going over to Mitch’s house.”

                “Okay. Have fun and let me know if you’re going to spend the night there,” she said.

                “Can do,” I said before hurrying out of my house.

                I drove down to Mitch’s house and let myself in. His parents were perfectly content to let his friends just walk into the house. I was jealous of his parents, honestly. Ever since my brother came stumbling into the house high for the first time, my parents had been extremely overprotective of me. I got yelled at if I didn’t tell them where I was at all times.

                Mitch, on the other hand, snuck out constantly. His parents knew almost everything he did, and they never went super dictator mode on him despite it all. I knew they worried like hell about him constantly, but they also understood that he was an 18 year old boy, and he was going to do things regardless of how strict they were with him.

                I let myself into Mitch’s bedroom, where he and Shane were sitting. I went over and sat on the floor with them.

                “Where’s Jace?” I asked.

                “He had to help his mom with something today,” Mitch said. “So, we’re going to have some beers and go in the pool.”

                “Sounds good to me,” I said with a grin.

                Mitch tossed a pair of swim trunks to me. We all changed and grabbed beers, heading out to their pool and jumping in.

                “Are you staying over tonight? Jace is coming back,” Mitch said, opening a beer and drinking from it.

                “Nah, I think I’m going to head back home. I’m exhausted,” I said.

                “Have you been going out at night without Trevor and Patrick?” Mitch asked, raising an eyebrow.

                “No,” I lied. “I just had to wake up early today to keep an eye on my brother.”

                “Don’t go out at night. You’ll get jumped,” Mitch said. “If they take your glasses off, you’re done for.”

                I poked the glasses on my face. “I can fight without them. It’s actually easier when you guys aren’t there, because then I don’t have to worry about hitting you,” I said.

                “Just don’t do anything stupid, Rio,” Mitch said.

                “I never do,” I said, grinning at him and opening a beer.

                We spent the next few hours swimming around the pool, slowly drinking our way through some beers and hanging out. Mitch and Shane were close brothers, and tended to spend a lot of time together.

                “We should probably get out soon. I think I’ve been converted into an old person,” I said, holding up my hand to show off the prune I called a hand.

                “I feel that,” Shane said, looking down at his hands. “We’ve been in here for a long time. It’s getting dark out.”

                “Alright, let’s go,” Mitch said, hopping out of the pool.

                We copied him and gathered up the beers. Shane carried the unopened ones inside while Mitch and I got rid of the empty ones.

                We went inside and the smell of food hit me, making my stomach growl. I hadn’t even realized how hungry I was.

                “I made dinner. Get dressed and go eat. And don’t stay in the pool so long you idiots,” Carols aid.

                We went back to Mitch’s room and changed into our clothes. We went out to the dining room, sitting down and eating.

                “Jace should be back soon,” Mitch said after glancing at the clock.

                “Oh joy,” I said.

                “If it came down to it, I think we all agree that we’d pick Jace over Rio,” Shane said.

                “Well that’s obvious,” Mitch said.

                “You’re a shitty friend,” I told him with a pleasant smile.

                “It’s one of my many charms,” Mitch said.

                As if on cue, the front door opened and shut. Jace appeared in the kitchen a minute later and ignored me, going over to take a seat next to Shane.

                “Are you hungry, Jace?” Carol asked.

                “Nah, my mom made me dinner. But thanks,” Jace said.

                We finished eating and went out to the living room. Mitch and Jace sat together, and I sat slightly away from them, knowing they would probably start making out to tease me.

                And of course I was right. We put on a movie and not even two minutes into it, Jace had shifted onto Mitch’s lap and they were sloppily making out.

                Shane chucked a pillow at them. “I know you’re trying to piss off Rio, but I’m here too!” he said with a pout. “I don’t want to see my brother making out with my best friend. It’s bad enough I have to hear you screwing each other.”

                I laughed. “Watching you make out doesn’t bother me. I don’t know why you think it does. It’s not my favorite thing in the world, but I’m not disturbed or traumatized by it.”

                “Damn, guess it’s time for Plan B,” Jace said, his hands sliding down Mitch’s chest.

                “You are not doing that in front of me!” Shane said, whipping another pillow at them.

                “Go for it. Shane and I will just do it too,” I said, grinning.

                “I’d rather watch them than have sex with you,” Shane grumbled, whipping a pillow at me.

                I caught it before it hit my face. “Where do you keep getting these pillows from?”

                “It’s a secret,” he said, producing another one and holding it up threateningly. “Now stop hitting on me.”

                “Oh, I’ll hit on you,” I said with a wink, ducking to avoid the pillow.

                We watched movies for a little before I stood up. I stretched and turned to Mitch, who was cuddled up with Jace.

                “I’m leaving. It’s getting late,” I said.

                “Alright, see you later,” he said.

                I left the house, driving myself home. I went in through the front door when I got back, realizing that my breath probably still smelled like beer and I should be careful to avoid my parents.

                “Rio?” mom called from the sunroom. “Is that you?”

                “Yea, it’s me. I’m going to bed,” I called back.

                “Alright, goodnight!” she said.

                “Night,” I said before hurrying away to my bedroom.

                My door opened after a few minutes and Hank came in. “Rio, do you have a pair of shorts I can borrow to sleep in? I spilled soda on mine,” he said.

                “Yea, here,” I said, tossing a pair of basketball shorts to him.

                He paused and came over to me, sniffing me. He glared at me. “You were drinking again. I told you not to drink!” he snapped.

                “It was a few beers a couple of hours ago,” I said. I shrugged and grinned at him. “I can handle myself. I’ll drink if I want to drink, Hank. You’re not the boss of m-”

                His fist collided with my cheek and I stumbled to the side, my grin dropping as fury entered me. Hank narrowed his eyes at me as I slowly rubbed my cheek.

                “I told you not to. Don’t be an idiot!” he barked.

                “Get out,” I said, pointing at my door. “I’ll do what I want.”

                “If I find out you’re drinking one more time, I’m telling mom and dad,” he said flatly. “I’m not letting you fuck up your life. You’re too smart for that.”

                “Get out,” I repeated calmly.

                Hank left my room, slamming my door as he went. I straightened up, going over to my mirror and glaring at my reflection. That was an angry red mark on my cheek from Hank.

                I clenched my fists tightly. Before the drugs, my brother would’ve never even dreamed of hitting me. He would kill anyone who hurt me in any way. He would never hurt me.

                I turned and threw open my window, climbing out and storming up the street. I needed to get out and get away before I did something I regretted.

                After a few minutes of walking, I found myself passing by the brick wall again. I looked up at it, remembering the way Ezra had crouched on it.

                I walked over, lightly running my fingers over the rough surface, wondering how Ezra even got up there. I couldn’t find a way to climb it.

                “I knew you’d come back.”

                I looked over in surprise, and then realized why I hadn’t seen Ezra before. He was lying on his back on the wall, balancing himself easily so that he didn’t fall. His head was turned in my direction, his hands folded under it.

                “Care to come up here and join me?” he offered.

                “How did you get up there?” I asked, dropping my hand from the wall.

                “If I tell you, you have to promise not to kick my ass when you get up here,” he said with a wink.

                “Deal,” I said.

                He pointed. “Go to the right a little. There’s a chip in the wall. It’s a small perch, but it’s something. Figure out the rest on your own.” He smiled. “It’s your challenge to see if you’re worthy enough to be up here.”

                I walked to the right until I found the chip in the wall. I carefully put the tip of my foot there and reached up, grapping enough chip.

                I realized that the wall here was chipped enough that a person could very carefully make their way up. So that’s what I did.

                I slowly made my way up to the top and then crawled over to where Ezra was sitting. The wall wasn’t very wide, and balancing was actually pretty hard.

                “Welcome,” he said, craning his neck so he could look at me.

                “Why are you up here?” I asked.

                “Because it’s a nice night out and I like the peace and quiet of the place,” he said, sitting up and turning to face me. “But I’m always up for a new friend.”

                “I’m not your friend,” I said.

                Up this close, I realized how attractive Ezra was. He had light brown hair and bright green eyes. Something about his face made him look innocent, but the scar on his eyebrow toughened out his appearance. He was wearing a purple beanie, his hair lightly tumbling out from under it.

                “You’re my acquaintance, and acquaintances tend to move up in the world to friendship,” he said.

                “I just wanted to know how you got up here,” I said. “That’s about it. I have no interest in being your friend.”

                “Did you get in a fight?” he asked, pointing at my cheek. “Someone punched you.”

                “Someone punched me?” I asked in surprise. “I hadn’t even noticed! Thanks for letting me know. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Ezra.”

                “Oh, you’re sassy,” he said happily.

                “No, I’m Rio,” I said.

                He chuckled. “I like you.”

                “Good, my sole mission in life was to win your approval,” I said.

                “Mission complete,” he said, giving me his easy smile.

                “So why are you out here alone?” I asked him.

                “I could ask you the same thing,” he said. “But, like I said, I’m just enjoying the nice night. Besides, it’s kind of hard to jump a guy who’s sitting on top of a wall. You, on the other hand, just wander around.”

                “I can handle myself,” I said.

                “Not if a group of guys attacked you,” he said. “But now you’re up on my wall and you’re nice and safe!”

                “Are you high?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

                “Not at all,” he said. “I don’t do that anymore. I was turning into a pothead, and I didn’t like that.”

                Hank flashed through my mind and I reached up, lightly touching my cheek. It would probably turn into a light bruise by tomorrow.

                “A touching story. Anyways, I’m leaving,” I said.

                “Hang out with me tomorrow,” he said.

                I stared at him like he was crazy. “Why? I barely know you.”

                He laid back down on the wall. “Meet me here tomorrow at noon.”

                “No,” I said, crawling back over to the chipped part of the wall and carefully climbing down. “You’re kind of creepy. I solved the mystery of how you get up on the wall, so I’m done with you.”

                “See you tomorrow at noon!” he said as I started walking away.

                “You can wait here all day if your heart desires, but I’m not coming,” I called over my shoulder as I walked away from him. I hurried away, wanting to be away from this weird kid. There was no way in hell I’d go meet up with him tomorrow.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.N.- Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I've been busy and tired >.< But I've gotten pretty far with this story already, it's over 70 pages on Microsoft so far, and it's taking all my control not to post it all in one day because I'm getting really excited with it. So as long as I can get online, this story will be updated every other day! :) So, let me know what you think!